Do you say "An hotel"?

[Nighthogs]

Apparently this is correct, but the only time I've ever heard it used in this way is when it's said in a cockney accent (ie. "An 'otel"). When I say the word "hotel", the H isn't silent, so putting the word "an" before it just seems... Odd. I have an assuming south east accent, by the way.

Curious what everyone out there does!

YABU - I say "An hotel"
YANBU - I say "A hotel"

PS prize for most boring thread ever in 3...2...1...

But if you eat in the hotel restaurant, do you say restauran' or restauranT?

@unnumber yep this is correct!

Anything with a silent 'h' (hour etc) is an.

Anything with an h that's pronounced it's to do with where the emphasis is in the word.
If the emphasis is on the first syllable, (hospital, hamburger, handkerchief) then it is a.
If the emphasis is on the second syllable (hotel, historic, historian etc) then it should be an.
However as PPs have said rules are always changing! And it really doesn't bother me whether anyone uses an or a even though I'm a bit of a grammar/punctuation nerd!

If the emphasis is on the second syllable (hotel, historic, historian etc) then it should be an

It would depend on dialect then. In Ire we pronounce the h in historic/historian/hotel. The h is very much pronounced even with the following vowel is a long vowel,

"An" goes before a vowel sound. My favourite manifestation of this is the letter L.
ie Cat begins with a "C" but lion begins with an "L"
I bet most people don't even notice that they do this.

@anyoldtime

If the emphasis is on the second syllable (hotel, historic, historian etc) then it should be an

It would depend on dialect then. In Ire we pronounce the h in historic/historian/hotel. The h is very much pronounced even with the following vowel is a long vowel,

Yes, this is a British (mostly SE English) pattern for h- words generally. But I've heard older generations in Ireland say "an hotel". I think it's a special case as others have suggested because so many people are aware of the French pronunciation - you see it written hôtel in some older books.

@MistyGreenAndBlue

"An" goes before a vowel sound. My favourite manifestation of this is the letter L. ie Cat begins with a "C" but lion begins with an "L" I bet most people don't even notice that they do this.

Yes, I remember writing a "U" for some reason and spending a while mulling it all over - automatic until you try to explain it to yourself

It's an historic pronunciation (see what I did there).

My granny (born in 1910) pronounced it
An OAT'l

She was pretty middle/ upper middle class so not a regional accent thing but the "received pronunciation". She had a sort of 'posh accent that no-one has these days, but you might hear on a radio broadcast in the 30s or an old black and white film.

I guess the spelling has persisted even though that's not considered the correct way to pronounce it any more.

All the people saying "an 'hotel is correct because it's a French word"

The origins of the widely used english word hotel are French. There are thousands of English words derived from French, often with the same spelling but different pronunciation! In modern English, the "h" in hotel is not widely considered silent, dictionary pronunciations will usually reflect that. Pronunciations change - English today is pronounced very differently than it was 300 years ago.

ArcheryAnnie

That's my parents to a tee.

Hmm not RTFT but @Cheeseycheeseycheesecheese when is H ever followed by a consonant? Can you think of a word like that because I am struggling ?!

I would write it. Don’t think I’d say it.

S.Walians drop their H a LOT, so 'an otel' is pretty standard! Far from being perceives as affected, you'd sound more 'welshy' /working class for it!

I taught Y2 the difference between a and an recently, and it was all to do with vowel sounds. Hotel does not begin with a vowel sound.

@percheron67

The H in Hotel is silent so it is an (H)Otel. Most people seem to get this wrong.

It's not really wrong though because using "otel" instead of "hotel" is far less common these days. Language is fluid and an hotel sounds wrong now because the reason for having it doesnt really exist now. It sounds clumsy and doesn't flow in speech.

@knittingaddict - agree. The French pronunciation of ‘h’ words is really uncommon now (unless you’re French!). The only exception I can think of is that some people in the USA still say ‘erb for herb.

Well ravingannie it was in my primary English book, which is why I say it is correct, though I don't pronounce it.

@notangelinajolie

It's an hotel. How can it be a hotel?

So, do you say "otel" or "hotel"? That makes all the difference.

I also think why people drop the h is important. Dropping the h because of dialect is one thing ie Yorkshire accent. Dropping it because it comes from the French is something else altogether. I can't imagine many do the later anymore and it's definitely dying out. I think it sounds oddly pretentious.

I meant "latter" not later.

In primary school in the 50s I offered 'an hotel' in class when we were doing 'a' and 'an' before words. Only child, older parents, middle class father, lots of books, no TV.

I was sneered at by the teacher for being wrong. I've never forgotten.

That was in Scotland.

The other day I said something about making an hilarious joke and my whole family mocked me for my use of "an". I didn't even realise I'd said it that way to be honest.

I'd also say an historic event.

But I don't say an hotel... Sounds wrong.

I would “book an otel” but I’d be “going to stay at a hotel” just to confuse matters even more

I'm aware of it but trnd to use a, because I pronounce the h in hotel so it sounds weird if I say an. It's about the sound not the spelling.

Opposite examples with vowel words with consonant sounds at the start can cause great debate too. European and university for example.

No, a hotel and a historian. Don’t care what it should be, I say what sounds right.